CN115707012A

CN115707012A - Communication method, device and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN115707012A
Application number: CN202110904072.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蒋成堃; 周汉
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-06
Filing date: 2021-08-06
Publication date: 2023-02-17
Also published as: WO2023011006A1

Abstract

The application discloses a communication method, a communication device and communication equipment, which are used for improving the timeliness and the accuracy of network state detection in a mobile communication system. The method comprises the following steps: in the mobile communication system, the control plane network element may send INT configuration information to the target communication device after acquiring the INT configuration information of the target communication device. In this way, the target communication device can perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information. By the scheme, the control plane network element can carry out INT configuration on the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system can support INT technology, the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time when transmitting the service data packet and report the detection result, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

Description

Communication method, device and equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, and device.

Background

The key to the successful application of mobile communication systems in industrial, commercial, etc. networks is the stability and reliability of the transmission. For example, the 5th generation (5g) communication system has been successfully used in various networks. In order to achieve flexibility of networking, the wireless implementation of mobile communication systems is also a trend.

However, since the network status of the wireless network is dynamically changed and the change speed is fast, there is often occasional network performance degradation, and therefore, the wireless performance of the mobile communication system affects the stability and reliability of transmission.

Therefore, network detection is required in the mobile communication system, so that the change of the network state can be known in time, and then fault positioning and maintenance can be performed in time when the network fails. Currently, mobile communication systems may generally employ an active measurement mechanism based on Performance Measurement Function (PMF). In the active measurement mechanism, after sensing the deterioration of the network state, the mobile communication system constructs an active probe packet, and detects the network state by transmitting the active probe packet.

However, due to the sporadic and rapid change of the network status of the wireless network, the active measurement mechanism may not detect the network status change in time, or the accuracy of the detection result is reduced. For example, when traffic data is transmitted, the air interface state is abnormal, but when an active probe packet is transmitted, the air interface state is recovered to be normal.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method, a communication device and communication equipment, which are used for improving the timeliness and the accuracy of network state detection in a mobile communication system.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method may be applied in the communication system shown in fig. 1. The control plane network element in the mobile communication system, which is responsible for INT configuration for the target communication device, is hereinafter referred to as a first control plane network element, and the target communication device may be any one of a terminal device, an access network device, and a user plane network element. The method comprises the following steps:

the first control plane network element may send INT configuration information to a target communication device in the mobile communication system after acquiring the INT configuration information of the target communication device; and the INT configuration information is used for the target communication equipment to carry out INT processing on the service data packet.

By the method, in the mobile communication system, after acquiring INT configuration information of target communication equipment, a control plane network element can send the INT configuration information to the target communication equipment; therefore, the target communication equipment can carry out INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information, so that the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time and report a detection result when transmitting the service data packet, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be further improved.

In one possible design, the INT configuration information may indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata that the target communication device is required to provide, the format of the INT header, and the INT device type of the target communication device.

Wherein the type of INT metadata that the target communication device is required to provide may include at least one of: the timestamp of the service data packet transmitted by the target communication device, the device identifier of the target communication device, the port state of the target communication device, the congestion state of the target communication device when transmitting the service data packet, the bandwidth of the target communication device, the throughput of the target communication device, the bandwidth utilization rate of the target communication device, the packet loss rate of the target communication device, the queue utilization rate of the target communication device, and the local forwarding delay of the service data packet transmitted by the target communication device.

The INT device type of the target communication device may be any one of: INT source node, INT transmission node, INT pool node.

In this design, INT configuration information may be combined in various ways, and the type of INT metadata included in the INT configuration information that needs to be measured by the target communication device may also be combined in various ways. Through the design, the control plane network element can flexibly configure INT configuration information such as types of INT metadata to be measured for the target communication equipment, so that the flexibility of network state measurement can be improved.

In one possible design, the first control plane network element may obtain, but is not limited to, INT configuration information of a target communication device in the mobile communication system by at least one of:

the first method is as follows: the first control plane network element may obtain INT information, and generate the INT configuration information according to the INT information; and the INT information is used for the mobile communication system to carry out INT processing on the service data packet.

In this manner, the first control plane network element may generate the INT configuration information corresponding to an INT requirement of the target communication device according to the INT information corresponding to the INT requirement of the mobile communication system. In this way, the first control plane network element can convert the INT requirement for the mobile communication system into the INT requirement for the target communication device, thereby implementing the INT processing in the mobile communication system.

The second method comprises the following steps: the first control plane network element may generate, after receiving an INT request from a terminal device or an access network device to which the terminal device is accessed, the INT configuration information according to at least one of the following: the characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource allocation state of the mobile communication system and the measurement requirements; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

In this way, the first control plane network element can perform INT configuration on the target communication device based on a request of an internal network element of the mobile communication system, so that INT processing can be performed in the mobile communication system in time.

The third method comprises the following steps: the first control plane network element may receive the INT configuration information from a second control plane network element.

By the method, the first control plane network element can conveniently acquire the INT configuration information of the target communication equipment, so that INT processing in the mobile communication system is realized.

In one possible design, the first control plane network element may obtain the INT information by at least one of:

mode 1: the first control plane network element may receive INT information from a server or a third control plane network element.

Mode 2: the first control plane network element may generate, after receiving an INT request from a terminal device or an access network device to which the terminal device is accessed, the INT information according to at least one of the following: the characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource configuration state of the mobile communication system and the measurement requirements; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the INT information may be used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of the INT header, which is provided by the mobile communication system, is required.

In one possible design, the INT information may further include: data stream indication information for indicating a target data stream supporting an INT process; the INT configuration information further includes: target QoS flow indication information for indicating a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system; wherein the target QoS flow corresponds to the target data flow.

The design shows specific content of the INT information, a corresponding relation can exist between the INT information and INT configuration information, and the first control plane network element can conveniently determine the corresponding INT configuration information according to the INT information, so that the efficiency of determining the INT configuration information by the first control plane network element can be improved.

In one possible design, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information may further include: a first indication; the first indication may instruct the target communication device to generate first INT metadata according to INT metadata of at least one communication device included in the received service data packet; wherein the first INT metadata is INT metadata of the mobile communication system.

In one possible design, the INT configuration information further includes: and a second indication, which may instruct the target communication device to send the first INT metadata to a target receiving device, where the first INT metadata is used by the target receiving device to analyze a network state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet.

Optionally, the second indication may be a device identifier of the target receiving device and/or an address of the target receiving device.

In one possible design, the target receiving device is a server or a fourth control plane network element.

In the above design, after the target communication device serving as the pool node generates the first INT metadata for the service data packet, the first INT metadata may be reported. In this way, after receiving the first INT metadata, the device (e.g., the target receiving device) for performing network status analysis does not need to distinguish which INT metadata are INT metadata corresponding to the service data packet, and does not need to integrate the INT metadata, so that the efficiency of network status analysis can be improved.

In a possible design, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT source node, the INT configuration information may indicate that the target communication device adds an INT header and INT metadata of the target communication device to the service data packet, where a format of the INT header conforms to a format of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information.

By this design, the device in the mobile communication system can implement the functionality of the INT source node.

In one possible design, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT transmission node, the INT configuration information may instruct the target communication device to add INT metadata of the target communication device to the service data packet.

In a second aspect, in order to improve timeliness and accuracy of network status detection in a mobile communication system, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method may be applied in the communication system shown in fig. 1. A target communication device in charge of INT processing on a service data packet in the mobile communication system is hereinafter referred to as a first communication device, and the first communication device may be any one of a terminal device, an access network device, and a user plane network element. The method comprises the following steps:

and after receiving INT configuration information from a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system, the first communication equipment carries out INT processing on the acquired first service data packet according to the INT configuration information. And the INT configuration information is used for the first communication equipment to carry out INT processing on the service data packet.

According to the method, in a mobile communication system, a control plane network element sends INT configuration information to first communication equipment corresponding to the INT configuration information; therefore, the target communication equipment can carry out INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information, so that the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time and report a detection result when transmitting the service data packet, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be further improved.

In one possible design, the INT configuration information is used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of an INT packet header and the type of an INT device of the first communication device are required to be provided by the first communication device;

wherein the type of INT metadata that the first communication device is required to provide may comprise at least one of: the timestamp of the first communication device transmitting the service data packet, the device identifier of the first communication device, the port state of the first communication device, the congestion state of the first communication device when transmitting the service data packet, the bandwidth of the first communication device, the throughput of the first communication device, the bandwidth utilization rate of the first communication device, the packet loss rate of the first communication device, the queue utilization rate of the first communication device, and the local forwarding delay of the first communication device transmitting the service data packet.

The INT device type of the first communication device is any one of: INT source node, INT transmission node and INT pool node.

Through the design, the control plane network element can flexibly configure the type of INT metadata to be measured for the target communication equipment, so that the flexibility of network state measurement can be improved.

In a possible design, when the first communication device is a terminal device or an access network device to which the terminal device is connected, the first communication device may send an INT request to a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system before receiving INT configuration information from the first control plane network element; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on a first service data packet of the terminal equipment.

In this design, the terminal device or an access network device accessed by the terminal device may trigger the first control plane network element to perform INT configuration, thereby implementing INT processing inside the mobile communication system.

In one possible design, the INT configuration information may further include: target QoS flow indication information for indicating a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system; wherein the first service data packet belongs to the target QoS flow.

In the design, the first communication device can determine the target QoS flow supporting INT processing according to the target QoS flow indication information, so that INT processing can be performed on a service data packet in the target QoS flow in a targeted manner, and timeliness, accuracy and pertinence of network state detection when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet are improved.

In one possible design, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information may further include: a first indication; the first communication device may, but is not limited to, INT processing the first traffic data packet by:

mode 1: the first communication device may generate INT metadata for the first communication device according to a type of INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information. The first communication device may then generate first INT metadata for the mobile communication system based on the first indication, INT metadata for at least one communication device included in the first service data packet, and the INT metadata for the first communication device.

Mode 2: the first communication device may add INT metadata of the first communication device to the first service data packet after generating the INT metadata of the first communication device according to a type of the INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information, and then, the first communication device may generate the first INT metadata of the mobile communication system according to the first indication and the INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices included in the first service data packet.

In one possible design, when the INT configuration information includes a second indication, the first communication device may send the first INT metadata to the target receiving device according to the second indication, where the first INT metadata may be used for the target receiving device to analyze a network state of the mobile communication system when the first service data packet is transmitted.

In the above design, after the first communication device serving as the pool node generates the first INT metadata for the service data packet, the first INT metadata may be reported. Therefore, after the equipment for analyzing the network state receives the first INT metadata, the equipment does not need to distinguish which INT metadata are the INT metadata corresponding to the service data packet, and does not need to integrate the INT metadata, so that the efficiency of analyzing the network state can be improved.

In one possible design, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT source node, the first communication device may add an INT header to the first service packet, where a format of the INT header conforms to a format of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information; the first communication device may further add INT metadata of the first communication device to the first service data packet after generating the INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of the INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information.

By this design, the first communication device in the mobile communication system may implement the functionality of the INT source node.

In one possible design, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT transmission node, the first communication device may generate INT metadata of the first communication device according to the INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information; INT metadata of the first communication device is then added to the first service data packet.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including means for performing each step in any one of the above aspects.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes at least one processing element and at least one storage element, where the at least one storage element is configured to store programs and data, and the at least one processing element is configured to read and execute the programs and data stored by the storage element, so that the method provided in any one of the above aspects of the present application is implemented.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including: a first communication device for performing the method provided by the first aspect, and a second communication device for performing the method provided by the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method provided in any one of the above aspects.

In a seventh aspect, this application embodiment further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method provided in any one of the above aspects.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, where the chip is configured to read a computer program stored in a memory, and execute the method provided in any one of the above aspects.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, and is used to support a computer device to implement the method provided in any one of the above aspects. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing programs and data necessary for the computer device. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

The technical effects achieved by any one of the third to ninth aspects can be described with reference to any one of the first or second aspects, and the repetition thereof is not discussed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of In-band Network measurement (INT);

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic view of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of another communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating INT processing performed on a service data packet in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of another communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an INT process performed on a service data packet in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The application provides a communication method, a communication device and communication equipment, which are used for improving the timeliness and the accuracy of network state detection in a mobile communication system. The method, the device and the equipment are based on the same technical conception, and because the principles of solving the problems are similar, the implementation of the device, the equipment and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not described again.

According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, in the mobile communication system, after the control plane network element acquires the INT configuration information of the target communication equipment, the INT configuration information can be sent to the target communication equipment; in this way, the target communication device can perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information. By the scheme, the control plane network element can carry out INT configuration on the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system can support the INT technology, the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time when transmitting the service data packet and report the detection result, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

Hereinafter, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) Communication equipment generally refers to equipment having a communication function. Illustratively, the communication device may be, but is not limited to, a terminal device, AN Access Network (AN) device, AN access point, a Core Network (CN) device, and the like.

2) A terminal device is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), and so on.

For example, the terminal device may be a handheld device, an in-vehicle device, or the like having a wireless connection function. Currently, some examples of terminal devices are: a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm top computer, a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote surgery (remote medical supply), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (smart security), a wireless terminal in city (smart city), a wireless terminal in home (smart home), and the like.

3) The AN device is a device for accessing the terminal device to the wireless network in the mobile communication system. The AN device, as a node in a radio access network, may also be referred to as a base station, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (or device), and AN Access Point (AP).

Currently, some examples of AN apparatus are: a new generation Node B (gNB), a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), an evolved Node B (eNB), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved Node B or home Node B, HNB), or a Base Band Unit (BBU), etc.

In addition, in a network structure, the AN device may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node and a Distributed Unit (DU) node. The structure separates the protocol layers of AN equipment, the functions of partial protocol layers are controlled in the CU in a centralized way, the functions of the rest or all protocol layers are distributed in the DU, and the DU is controlled in the CU in a centralized way.

4) And the CN equipment is a network element contained in a CN part in the mobile communication system. The CN equipment can access the terminal equipment to different data networks and carry out services such as charging, mobility management, session management, user plane forwarding and the like. In mobile communication systems of different standards, names of CN devices having the same function may differ. However, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific name of the CN device having each function.

For example, in the 4 th generation (4) ^th generation, 4G) Mobile communication system (i.e., in Long Term Evolution (LTE), a network element responsible for functions such as access control, security control, and signaling coordination is a Mobility Management Entity (MME); the network element serving as the local mobility management anchor point is a serving gateway (S-GW); anchor point responsible Internet Protocol (IP) address as a handover of external data networksThe allocated network element is a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW); the network element storing the user-related data and the subscription data is a Home Subscriber Server (HSS); the network element responsible for the policy and charging function is called a policy and charging control rule function (PCRF) network element.

As another example, in the 5th generation (5) ^th generation, 5G) mobile communication system, according to specific logical function division, a core network may be divided into a Control Plane (CP) and a User Plane (UP). The CN may be referred to as a control plane network element, and the CN may be referred to as a user plane network element. Specifically, in the user plane, the network element serving as an interface of the data network and responsible for functions such as user plane data forwarding is a User Plane Function (UPF) network element. In the control plane, a network element responsible for access control and mobility management functions is called an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element; a network element responsible for session management and execution of a control policy is called a Session Management Function (SMF) network element; a network element responsible for functions such as managing subscription data, user access authorization, and the like is called a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element; the network element responsible for charging and Policy control functions is called a Policy and Charging Function (PCF) network element; and an Application Function (AF) network element responsible for transmitting a requirement of the application side on the network side.

5) And a Data Network (DN), which is a network located outside the mobile communication system. For example, the DN may be a Packet Data Network (PDN), such as the Internet (Internet), an IP Multimedia Service (IMS) network, a data network dedicated to some applications, an ethernet, an IP local network, and the like, which is not limited in this application. The DN can be used for deploying various services and providing services such as data and/or voice and the like for terminal equipment.

The traffic flows transmitted in the DN may be referred to as data flows.

6) The session management network element is used for transmitting user plane data between the terminal equipment and the DN, such as Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, aiming at the connection between the terminal equipment, the access network equipment, the user plane network element and the DN, which is established by the terminal equipment in the mobile communication system.

A terminal device may establish one or more PDU sessions with a mobile communication system (e.g., a 5G communication system), in each of which one or more quality of service (QoS) flows may be established.

Each QoS flow is used to transport data for the same QoS requirement (reliability or latency) in one service. The QoS flow may be identified by a QoS Flow Identifier (QFI).

There is a correspondence between the data flow in the DN and the QoS flow in the mobile communication system. For example, when a service packet in a data flow in the DN is transmitted to the mobile communication system, the mobile communication system maps the service packet to a corresponding QoS flow transmission. Correspondingly, when the service data packet in the QoS flow in the mobile communication system is transmitted to the DN, the service data packet is mapped to the corresponding data flow for transmission.

7) In a downlink transmission direction, data sent to a terminal device by a network side (for example, an access network device or a core network); in the uplink transmission direction, the terminal device sends data to the network side.

8) The characteristics of the service of the terminal device may include: at least one of the size of the service data packet of the terminal device, the transmission protocol used by the service data packet, the format of the service data packet, and the like.

9) The QoS parameters of the service of the terminal device may include: at least one of latency, transmission bandwidth, etc. of the traffic data packet.

10 Resource allocation status of the mobile communication system may be used to indicate at least one of: resource usage of the communication devices in the mobile communication system, a load state (e.g., air interface load) of an interface between the communication devices in the mobile communication system, and the like.

11 ), measurement requirements may include: at least one of a requirement for a measurement parameter, a requirement for measurement granularity, and the like.

The measurement parameters may include: at least one of a timestamp, a device identifier, a port state, a congestion state, a bandwidth, a throughput, a bandwidth utilization, a packet loss rate, a forwarding delay, a queue utilization, and the like.

The measurement granularity is used to indicate a unit of a measurement object. In the embodiment of the present application, network measurement may be performed with a session as a granularity, network measurement may be performed with a QoS flow as a granularity, and network measurement may be performed with a communication device as a granularity.

In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns means "singular nouns or plural nouns" or "one or more" unless otherwise specified. "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A/B, represents: a or B. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of the item(s), including any combination of the singular or plural item(s).

In addition, it is to be understood that the terms first, second, etc. in the description of the present application are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order.

In addition, "greater than" in the embodiments of the present application may be replaced with "greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to" may be replaced with "less than".

A communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applied will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows an architecture of a possible communication system to which the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applicable. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes three parts: terminal equipment (UE is illustrated in the figure), a mobile communication system, and a DN. The mobile communication system provides access service and connection service for the terminal equipment.

The terminal device is an entity capable of receiving and transmitting wireless signals at the user side, and needs to access the DN through the mobile communication system. Optionally, the terminal device may be used as a relay device of other data collectors or other terminal devices, so that these devices can perform service communication with the DN through the mobile communication system.

The mobile communication system may have access to at least one DN, which may also be accessed by at least one mobile communication system. Wherein the mobile communication system may comprise two parts, AN and CN.

The network device deployed in the AN is AN device, and may specifically be responsible for functions such as wireless access, air interface side radio resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption, and user plane data forwarding.

The network elements deployed in the CN may be collectively referred to as CN devices. The following takes the CN in the 5G mobile communication system as an example, and the functions of the main network elements in the CN are specifically described. As can be seen from the above description, the network elements in the CN of the 5G mobile communication system can be divided into two types, i.e., a control plane network element and a user plane network element.

The user plane network element includes a User Plane Function (UPF) and is mainly responsible for packet data packet forwarding, qoS control, accounting information statistics, and the like. The embodiment of the application can also be used in the following scenes: the field sensor and other devices are accessed to the core network through the UE and the AN, and data transmission is carried out on the user plane through the UPF.

The control plane network element is mainly responsible for service flow interaction, and issuing a data packet forwarding strategy, a QoS control strategy and the like to the user plane. The control plane network element mainly comprises: AMF, SMF, PCF, AF, network Exposure Function (NEF), UDM, authentication server function (AUSF), network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), network function repository function (NRF).

Among them, the AMF is mainly responsible for access management and mobility management of the UE, for example, responsible for state maintenance of the UE, reachability management of the UE, forwarding of non-Mobility Management (MM) non-access-stratum (NAS) messages, and the like.

The SMF is mainly responsible for session management of the UE, for example, managing the establishment and deletion of a PDU session, maintaining a PDU session context, and the like.

The PCF is primarily responsible for measurement control, e.g. generating and/or managing user, session, qoS flow handling policies, etc.

The AF is mainly responsible for providing various service services, and can interact with a core network through the NEF, and interact with a policy management framework to perform policy management, and the like.

The NEF is mainly responsible for providing a framework, authentication and interface related to network capability opening, passing information between the network functions of the mobile communication system and other network functions.

The AUSF is mainly responsible for performing security authentication of the UE.

The NSSF is primarily responsible for selecting a network slice for the UE.

The NRF is mainly responsible for providing a storage function and a selection function of network function entity information for other network elements.

UDM is mainly responsible for user subscription context management.

Fig. 1 also shows interfaces between multiple network elements in a communication system, and the following describes relevant interfaces between network elements related to the embodiment of the present application. N1 is an interface between the UE and the core network control plane, and the UE and the AMF may interact through the N1 interface. N2 is an interface between the access network device and the core network control plane, and the access network device and the AMF may interact via the N2 interface. N3 is the communication interface between the access network equipment and the UPF for transmitting user data. N4 is a communication interface between the SMF and the UPF, for policy configuration and the like for the UPF. N6 is the communication port between the UPF and the DN. Interfaces between the control plane network elements in the CN may be implemented by using corresponding service interfaces, which may be specifically shown in fig. 1.

The communication system shown in fig. 1 is not intended to limit the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application may also be applicable to communication systems of various systems, for example: long Term Evolution (LTE) communication systems, 5G communication systems, the sixth generation (6G) communication systems, and future communication systems. In addition, it should be further noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, names of network elements in a communication system are also not limited, for example, in communication systems of different standards, network elements may have other names; for another example, when multiple network elements are merged in the same physical device, the physical device may have other names.

For ease of understanding, the INT technique is described below. Referring to fig. 2, INT technology is a method for passive network measurement on the data plane. In this method, when a service data packet is transmitted to a node in a network, the node adds measurement data (which may also be referred to as measurement parameters or INT metadata) of the node to a header of the service data packet. Currently, types of INT metadata include: at least one of local forwarding delay, port number, device number, queue occupancy, etc.

The following three INT device types can be defined in networks that support INT technology: an INT source node, an INT transmit node, and an INT pool node. As shown in fig. 2, the main INT functions for each INT device type are as follows:

the INT source node may add an INT header and INT metadata of the node to the service data packet.

The INT transmission node may add INT metadata of the node to the service data packet.

The INT pool node can add INT metadata of the node into the service data packet, then extract an INT header and all INT metadata included in the service data packet, and report the INT header and all INT metadata to the server for analysis and/or diagnosis.

By utilizing the INT technology, when the nodes in the network transmit the service data packets, the network state can be detected in real time, and the detection result is reported to the server for analysis, so that the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

The scheme provided by the application is explained in the following with reference to the attached drawings. The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1. The flow of the method will be described in detail with reference to the flow chart shown in fig. 3. For convenience of differentiation and description, a control plane network element in the mobile communication system, which is responsible for INT configuration for the target communication device, is referred to as a first control plane network element, and the target communication device may be any one of a terminal device, AN apparatus, and a UPF.

S301: the first control plane network element may obtain INT configuration information of a target communication device in the mobile communication system. The INT configuration information may be used for INT processing of a service data packet by the target communication device.

Optionally, the first control plane network element may be one or more of control plane network elements such as an AF, a PCF, a NEF, an SMF, and an AMF.

In some embodiments, all of the INT configuration information is determined by one control plane network element, i.e. the first control plane network element may be one control plane network element. For example, a control plane network element of the AF, PCF, or NEF determines INT configuration information of the target communication device.

In other embodiments, the INT configuration information of the target communication device is determined by a plurality of control plane network elements together, i.e. the first control plane network element may be a plurality of control plane network elements. For example, the AF determines a part of the INT configuration information, and the PCF or NEF determines another part of the INT configuration information.

In addition, it should be further noted that INT configuration information of different communication devices may be determined by the same control plane network element, or may be determined by different control plane network elements, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In an embodiment of the application, the INT configuration information of the target communication device may indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata that the target communication device is required to provide (hereinafter referred to as the first INT metadata type), the format of the INT header (the first INT header format), and the type of INT device of the target communication device.

Wherein the first INT metadata type may include a type of parameter required by the target communication device to make a network measurement. For example, the first INT metadata type includes, but is not limited to, at least one of: the timestamp of the transmission of the service data packet by the target communication device, the device identifier of the target communication device, the port state of the target communication device, the congestion state when the target communication device transmits the service data packet, the bandwidth of the target communication device, the throughput of the target communication device, the bandwidth utilization rate of the target communication device, the packet loss rate of the target communication device, the queue utilization rate of the target communication device, and the local forwarding delay of the transmission of the service data packet by the target communication device.

The first INT header format may include: and (3) a packing protocol of INT packet header in the service data packet transmitted by the target communication equipment. The wrapping protocol of the INT header may include, but is not limited to, at least one of: a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN), a general network virtual encapsulation (general), a General Routing Encapsulation (GRE), a Network Service Header (NSH), a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and a User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

In addition, the INT configuration information may further indicate a type of an INT header in a service packet transmitted by the target communication device (hereinafter, referred to as a first INT header type). The first INT header type may indicate an INT device type that enables INT processing of the service data packet. For example, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT header includes a first type (e.g., an embedded data (MD) type or an embedded indication (MX) type), it indicates that when a target communication device serving as an INT transmission node receives a service packet including the INT header of the first type, INT processing may be performed on the service packet. For another example, when the INT configuration information indicates that the INT header includes the second type (e.g., destination type), it indicates that when the target communication device, which is an INT pool node, receives a service data packet including the INT header of the second type, INT processing may be performed on the service data packet.

It should be noted that the information contained in the INT configuration information of different communication devices may be the same, may be different, or may be partially the same. For example, INT configuration information for target communication devices having the same INT device type may be the same, and INT configuration information for target communication devices having different INT device types may be different.

Optionally, the first control plane network element may obtain the INT configuration information through, but not limited to, the following several implementation manners:

the first implementation mode comprises the following steps: after obtaining the INT information, the first control plane network element may determine the INT configuration information according to the INT information, where the INT information may be used for the mobile communication system to perform INT processing on a service data packet.

The second embodiment: the first control plane network element may determine the INT configuration information after receiving an INT request from the terminal device or an access network device accessed by the terminal device.

The third implementation mode comprises the following steps: the first control plane network element may receive INT configuration information from the second control plane network element. Wherein the INT configuration information may be generated by a second control plane network element.

The three embodiments described above will be described below.

The first implementation mode comprises the following steps:

in the first embodiment, the INT information may be used to indicate at least one of the following: the type of INT metadata (hereinafter, referred to as a second INT metadata type) and the format of the INT header (hereinafter, referred to as a second INT header format) provided by the mobile communication system are required.

Wherein the second INT metadata type may contain a type of parameter required for the mobile communication system to perform network measurement. For example, the second INT metadata type includes, but is not limited to, at least one of: the method comprises the steps of transmitting a time stamp of a service data packet by the mobile communication system, a device identification of a communication device (hereinafter abbreviated as INT device) which carries out INT processing on the service data packet in the mobile communication system, a port state of each INT device, a congestion state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet, a bandwidth of the mobile communication system, a throughput of the mobile communication system, a bandwidth utilization rate of the mobile communication system, a queue utilization rate of each INT device, a packet loss rate of the mobile communication system and a system forwarding delay of the mobile communication system.

The second INT header format may comprise: and the wrapping protocol of the INT packet header in the service data packet in the mobile communication system.

Optionally, the INT information may further indicate a type of an INT header in a service data packet in the mobile communication system (hereinafter, referred to as a second INT header type). The type of the INT header may indicate an INT device type capable of performing INT processing on the service data packet.

For the type of INT header and/or the contents of the wrapping protocol of INT header, reference may be made to the description of the format of INT header and/or the wrapping protocol of INT header in the first INT header format, which is not described herein again.

In a first embodiment, the first control plane network element may, but is not limited to, acquire the INT information through the following implementation manners:

the first implementation mode comprises the following steps: the first control plane network element may determine the INT information after receiving AN INT request from a terminal device or AN device accessed by the terminal device. And the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

In this first implementation manner, the first control plane network element may obtain the INT request by, but not limited to, the following several manners:

mode 1: when the first control plane network element is AN SMF, the SMF may receive AN INT request from the terminal device sequentially through the AN device and the AMF, or receive AN INT request from the AN device through the AMF.

Mode 2: when the first control plane network element is a PCF, the PCF may receive the INT request from the terminal device sequentially through AN device, AMF, and SMF, or receive the INT request from the AN device sequentially through AMF and SMF.

In this first implementation manner, the INT request may carry INT indication information, where the INT indication information may indicate that the mobile communication system performs INT processing on a service data packet of the terminal device. The INT indication information may be an INT identifier, or other information having a corresponding relationship with the INT processing request for the service data packet of the terminal device.

Optionally, the INT request may multiplex an existing message (for example, a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message), or may be a dedicated message for requesting INT processing on a service data packet of the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

In this first implementation manner, after receiving the INT request, the first control plane network element may generate INT information through, but not limited to, at least one of the following: characteristics of the service of the terminal device, qoS parameters of the service of the terminal device, resource allocation status of the mobile communication system, measurement requirements. Optionally, the INT request may carry at least one of the foregoing or any combination; or the first control plane network element may obtain each kind of information in other manners, which is not limited in this application.

For example, when a traffic data packet of the terminal device is large (for example, the amount of data carried in the traffic data packet is greater than a first data amount threshold), the first control plane network element may determine that the second INT metadata type includes at least one of: bandwidth of the mobile communication system, throughput of the mobile communication system.

For another example, when the delay of the traffic requiring the terminal device is small (e.g., less than the first delay threshold), the first control plane network element may determine that the second INT metadata type includes at least one of: the equipment identification of INT equipment in the mobile communication system, the timestamp of the transmission service data packet of the mobile communication system and the system forwarding delay of the mobile communication system.

For another example, when the load of the target communication device is high (e.g., greater than the first load threshold), or the available resources are few (e.g., less than the first available resources threshold), the first control plane network element may determine that the second INT metadata type includes at least one of: congestion state when the mobile communication system transmits a service data packet, bandwidth of the mobile communication system, and bandwidth utilization of the mobile communication system.

For another example, when the load of the interface between the communication devices is high (for example, the air interface load is greater than the second load threshold), the first control plane network element may determine that the second INT metadata type includes at least one of: congestion state when the mobile communication system transmits a service data packet, bandwidth of the mobile communication system, and bandwidth utilization of the mobile communication system.

As another example, when the measurement requirements are: when measuring at least one of throughput and packet loss rate of enhanced mobile broadband (eMB) service, for a mobile communication system transmitting the eMB service, the first control plane network element determining the second INT metadata type includes at least one of: throughput of the mobile communication system, packet loss rate of the mobile communication system.

As another example, when the measurement requirements are: when at least one of a time delay and a packet loss rate of a high-reliable and Low Latency communication (URLLC) service is measured, for a mobile communication system transmitting the URLLC service, the first control plane network element determining that the second INT metadata type includes at least one of: the system forwarding delay of the mobile communication system and the packet loss rate of the mobile communication system.

The INT information may be generated indicating a second INT metadata type after the first control plane network element determines the second INT metadata type.

In this first implementation manner, the first control plane network element may further determine the second INT header format and/or the second INT header type after receiving the INT request.

For example, if the mobile communication system supports an INT header format (for example, the wrapping protocol of the INT header supported by the mobile communication system is GRE), the first control plane network element determines that the INT header format is the second INT header format. If the mobile communication system can support multiple INT header formats (e.g., the wrapping protocols of the INT header supported by the mobile communication system include GRE and VXLAN), the first control plane network element may select one or more INT header formats from the multiple INT header formats supported as the second INT header format.

For example, if the mobile communication system supports an INT header type (for example, the type of the INT header supported by the mobile communication system is a destination type), the first control plane network element determines that the INT header format is the second INT header type. If the mobile communication system can support a plurality of INT header types (for example, the types of the INT header supported by the mobile communication system are a destination type and an MD type), the first control plane network element may select one or more INT header types from the plurality of supported INT header types as the second INT header type.

The INT information indicating a second INT header format and/or a second INT header type may be generated after the first control plane network element determines the second INT header format and/or the second INT header type.

The second implementation mode comprises the following steps: the first control plane network element may receive the INT information from the server or the third control plane network element, and specifically includes the following modes:

mode 1: the first control plane network element may receive the INT information from a server. For example, when the first control plane network element is an AF, the AF receives the INT information from the server.

Mode 2: the first control plane network element may receive the INT information from a third control plane network element.

Optionally, the INT information sent by the third control plane network element may be received from the server. For example, when the first control plane network element is a PCF, the PCF may receive said INT information from the server by an AF, i.e. the third control plane network element is an AF. For another example, when the first control plane network element is an SMF, the SMF may sequentially pass through the AF and the PCF, and receive the INT information from the server, that is, the third control plane network element is at least one of the AF and the PCF; specifically, the server sends the INT information to the AF, the AF sends the INT information to the PCF, and then the SMF receives the INT information from the PCF.

Optionally, the INT information sent by the third control plane network element may also be generated by the third control plane network element, that is, the third control plane network element has an INT configuration capability. For example, the third control plane network element may be AN AF, and the AF may generate INT information according to AN INT request from a terminal device or AN device accessed by the terminal device. The method for generating the INT information by the third control plane network element may refer to the description in the first implementation manner, and is not described herein again.

In a first embodiment, after the first control plane network element acquires INT information through the above implementation manner, the first control plane network element may, but is not limited to, generate the INT configuration information according to the INT information through at least one of the following steps A1 to A3.

A1: the first control plane network element may determine the first INT metadata type according to the second INT metadata type indicated by the INT information (optionally, according to a network measurement capability of the target communication device).

Optionally, the second INT metadata type and the first INT metadata type may be completely corresponding, may not be corresponding, or may be partially corresponding. It should be noted that any one of the first INT metadata types corresponds to one of the second INT metadata, and may represent: metadata 2 belonging to the second INT metadata type can be determined by metadata 1 belonging to the INT metadata type; alternatively, the first INT metadata type is the same as the second INT metadata type.

For example, when the second INT metadata type includes: when the mobile communication system transmits a time stamp of a service data packet, the first INT metadata type may include: and the target communication equipment transmits the time stamp of the service data packet.

For another example, the first control plane network element may add a metadata type to the second INT metadata type to obtain a first INT metadata type. At this time, the first INT metadata type and the second INT metadata type partially correspond, and the first INT metadata type is more than the second INT metadata type.

In one example, the second INT metadata type includes: and the communication equipment in the mobile communication system transmits the time stamp of the service data packet and the equipment identification of the INT equipment in the mobile communication system. If the first control plane network element determines that an analysis of the congestion situation is also required, it may be determined that the first INT metadata type comprises: the timestamp of the service data packet transmitted by the target communication equipment, the equipment identifier of the target communication equipment and the congestion state of the target communication equipment when the service data packet is transmitted.

For another example, the first control plane network element may reduce the metadata type based on the second INT metadata type to obtain the first INT metadata type. At this time, the first INT metadata type and the second INT metadata type partially correspond, and the first INT metadata type is less than the second INT metadata type. When the first control plane network element does not support part of the second INT metadata type, the reduction of the metadata type on the basis of the second INT metadata type can be reduced to obtain the first INT metadata type.

In one example, the second INT metadata type includes: the time stamp of the service data packet transmitted by the mobile communication system, the device identification of the INT device in the mobile communication system, and the congestion state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet. If the first control plane network element determines that the target communication device is unable to analyze the congestion condition, it may be determined that the first INT metadata type comprises: and the target communication equipment transmits the timestamp of the service data packet and the equipment identifier of the target communication equipment.

Optionally, when the second INT metadata type does not correspond to or partially corresponds to the first INT metadata type, the first control plane network element may determine the first INT metadata type by itself, or may negotiate and determine with a server or another control plane network element.

The INT configuration information may be generated indicating a first INT metadata type after the first control plane network element determines the first INT metadata type.

A2: the first control plane network element may determine a first INT header format indicated by the INT configuration information according to a second INT header format indicated by the INT information.

It will be appreciated that, in general, the first INT header format is the same as, or included in, the second INT header format. For example, when the wrapping protocol of the INT header in the second INT header format is VXLAN or GRE, if the first control plane network element determines that the mobile communication system cannot support GRE, the first control plane network element may determine that the wrapping protocol of the INT header in the first INT header format is VXLAN.

Optionally, when the INT information indicates a second INT header type, and the INT configuration information also indicates a first INT header type, the first control plane network element may further determine the first INT header type indicated by the INT configuration information according to the second INT header type indicated by the INT information. Typically, the first INT header type is the same as the second INT header type, or the first INT header type is included in the second INT header type.

A3: in order to enable the mobile communication system to process the service data packet, after obtaining the INT information, the first control plane network element further needs to determine a target communication device for performing INT processing and an INT device type of the target communication device in the mobile communication system.

The target communication device is one of communication devices (hereinafter referred to as INT devices) for performing INT processing on a service data packet in the mobile communication system.

Optionally, the INT device in the mobile communication system may be default, for example, the INT device in the mobile communication system is defined by a protocol or set by Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM); it may also be self-determined by the first control plane network element. The INT device in the mobile communication system may also be notified to the first control plane network element after the determination by the other control plane network elements.

A method for a first control plane network element to determine an INT device in a mobile communication system is explained below. The method for determining the INT device by the other control plane network elements is the same as the method for determining the INT device by the first control plane network element, and is not described herein again.

In this first embodiment, the first control plane network element may determine, in a user plane communication device (UE, AN device, UPF (in some scenarios, UPF may include: relay UPF of non-session anchor and anchor UPF of session anchor)) transmitting traffic data, the INT device according to at least one of the following: the service characteristics of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource configuration state of the mobile communication system, the measurement requirements and the network measurement capability of each user plane communication equipment.

For example, when a service data packet of the terminal device is large (for example, the amount of data carried in the service data packet is greater than a second data amount threshold), the first control plane network element may select a part of communication devices among the UPF, the AN device, and the terminal device as AN INT device; when the service data packet of the terminal device is small (for example, the data amount carried in the service data packet is less than or equal to the second data amount threshold), the first control plane network element may select the UPF, the AN device, and the terminal device as the INT device.

Since the size of the service data packet that can be transmitted by the mobile communication system is limited, if the amount of data carried by the service data packet itself is large and all communication devices add INT metadata to the service data packet, the size of the service data packet may exceed the capability range that can be transmitted by the mobile communication system. In the embodiment of the present application, the first control plane network element selects an appropriate number of INT devices to perform INT processing on the service data packets according to the sizes of the service data packets of the terminal device, so that the network state of the mobile communication system when the service data packets are transmitted can be detected timely and accurately, and the transmission of the service data packets is not affected.

For another example, when the delay of the service required by the terminal device is small (for example, smaller than the second delay threshold), the first control plane network element may select a part of communication devices among the UPF, the AN device, and the terminal device as the INT device; when the delay of the service of the terminal device is required to be large (for example, greater than or equal to the second delay threshold), the first control plane network element may select a UPF, AN device, and the terminal device as AN INT device.

Since each INT device performs INT processing on the service data packet, the delay of the service data packet is increased. In the method, the first control plane network element selects the INT device according to the time delay requirement of the service of the terminal device. Therefore, the network state of the mobile communication system when transmitting the service data packet can be detected in time, and the transmission of the service data packet is not influenced.

As another example, the first control plane network element may determine not to select the communication device as an INT device when the communication device is highly loaded (e.g., greater than the third load threshold) or has very few available resources (e.g., less than the first available resource threshold). Specifically, when the load of the AN device is greater than the third load threshold, the first control plane network element may select the terminal device and the UPF as the INT device, and not select the AN device as the INT device.

For another example, when the load of the interface between the communication devices is high (for example, the air interface load is greater than the fourth load threshold), the first control plane network element may determine not to select a part or all of the communication devices corresponding to the interface as the INT device. Specifically, when the air interface load is greater than the fourth load threshold, the first control plane network element may select the terminal device and the UPF as the INT device, and not select the AN device as the INT device.

In the method, the first control plane network element flexibly selects the INT equipment according to the resource configuration state, so that the processing resources and the network resources of the mobile communication system can be reasonably utilized.

For another example, when the requirement for measurement granularity is high, the first control plane network element may determine that the INT device includes: UPF, AN equipment and terminal equipment. In the method, the first control plane network element can flexibly determine the INT equipment according to the measurement requirement, so that the processing resource and the network resource of the mobile communication system can be reasonably utilized.

For another example, when the user plane communication devices such as the terminal device, the AN device, and the UPF all have the capability of measuring the second INT metadata type, the first control plane network element may determine that the INT device includes: UPF, AN equipment and terminal equipment.

It should be understood that the above methods may also be combined with each other. For example, the first control plane network element may select the INT device according to the network load and the requirement for latency. The higher the delay requirements, the heavier the network load and the fewer the number of INT devices.

After the first control plane network element determines at least one INT device, the first control plane network element may determine INT configuration information for each INT device, that is, configure INT configuration information for each INT device as a target communication device.

And after the first control plane network element determines INT equipment in the mobile communication system, determining the INT equipment type of each INT equipment according to the transmission direction of the service data packet.

When the first control plane network element determines that there are two or more INT devices in the mobile communication system, the first control plane network element may determine that an INT device type of a first INT device through which a service data packet passes on a user plane is an INT source node or an INT transmission node; determining the INT device type of the last INT device passed by the service data packet on the user plane as an INT pool node; and determining the INT device type of the INT device between the INT source node and the INT pool node as an INT transmission node.

For example, when the INT device determined by the first control plane network element includes a terminal device, AN device, and a UPF for AN uplink transmission direction, the first control plane network element may determine that the INT device type of the UPF is AN INT pool node, determine that the INT device type of the terminal device is AN INT source node, and determine that the INT device type of the AN device is AN INT transmission node.

For another example, when the INT device determined by the first control plane network element includes a UPF and a terminal device, the first control plane network element may determine that the INT device type of the UPF is an INT source node, and determine that the INT device type of the terminal device is an INT pool node.

For another example, when, for a downlink transmission direction, a service data packet sent by the server to the mobile communication device includes an INT header, and the INT device determined by the first control plane network element includes a UPF and a terminal device, the first control plane network element may determine that the INT device type of the UPF is an INT transmission node, and determine that the INT device type of the terminal device is an INT pool node.

After the first control plane network element determines the first INT metadata type, the first INT header format, the first INT header type, and the INT device type of the target communication device through the above steps A1 to A3, the INT configuration information indicating the above four items of information may be generated.

The second embodiment:

in the second embodiment, the content and the acquisition mode of the INT request can refer to the first implementation mode in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, after the first control plane network element receives AN INT request from a terminal device or AN device accessed by the terminal device, the INT configuration information may be generated, but not limited to, by at least one of the following: the characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource configuration state of the mobile communication system, the measurement requirement and the network measurement capability of the target communication equipment.

In the second embodiment, the first control plane network element may determine the first INT metadata type by referring to the method for determining the second INT metadata type in the first implementation manner in the first embodiment, which is not described herein again.

The method for determining the first INT header format may refer to the method for determining the second INT header format in the first implementation manner, and the method for determining the first INT header type may refer to the method for determining the second INT header type in the first implementation manner, which is not described herein again.

After receiving the INT request, the first control plane network element may determine an INT device in the mobile communication system and an INT device type of each INT device, and the specific process may also refer to the first embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In summary, the first control plane network element may determine INT configuration information of the target communication device according to a first INT metadata type, the first INT header format, and the first INT header type.

The third embodiment is as follows:

in the third embodiment, the second control plane network element may be one or more of control plane network elements such as an AF, a PCF, a NEF, and an SMF. For example, the second control plane network element is a PCF, and the PCF may sequentially send the INT configuration information to the SMF and the AMF after generating the INT configuration information, that is, the first control plane network element is at least one of the SMF and the AMF.

The manner of generating the INT configuration information by the second control plane network element may refer to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

In some embodiments, the INT configuration information may further include: target QoS flow indication information. The target QoS flow indication information may indicate a target QoS flow supporting an INT process in the mobile communication system.

The target QoS flow indication information may be an existing identifier (QoS flow identifier) or other indication information corresponding to the QoS flow.

In the method, the first control plane network element may determine the target QoS flow for the INT and provide the target QoS flow indication information for the target communication device. Therefore, the target communication equipment can determine the target QoS flow supporting INT processing according to the target QoS flow indication information and pertinently carry out INT processing on the service data packet in the target QoS flow supporting INT processing, so that the network state when the mobile communication system transmits the target QoS flow can be detected, and the effectiveness, timeliness and pertinence of network state detection can be further improved.

In this embodiment, the first control plane network element may generate the target QoS flow indication information by, but not limited to:

mode 1: the first control plane network element may generate the target QoS flow indication information according to the INT information.

Optionally, the INT information may include data stream indication information. The data stream indication information may indicate a target data stream that supports INT processing.

The INT information may be obtained from the server according to the second implementation manner of the foregoing embodiment.

The first control plane network element may determine, according to the data flow indication information, a target QoS flow corresponding to the target data flow, and then generate the target QoS flow indication information indicating the target QoS flow.

Wherein, the target data flow supporting INT process in DN has corresponding relation with the target QoS flow supporting INT process in mobile communication network. In this way, the mobile communication system can perform INT processing on a traffic packet transmitted between the mobile communication system and the DN.

Mode 2: the first control plane network element may generate the target QoS flow indication information according to an INT request.

The INT request may be acquired from the terminal device or AN device accessed by the terminal device according to the second embodiment.

In some examples, the INT request may include data packet indication information therein. The packet indication information may indicate a target service packet of the terminal device that requests INT processing.

The first control plane network element may determine a target QoS flow including the target service packet according to the packet indication information, and then generate the target QoS flow indication information that may indicate the target QoS flow.

In other examples, when the INT request is transmitted through a PDU session setup request message or a PDU session modification request message, the first control plane network element may determine a PDU session requested to be setup/modified by the PDU session setup request message or the PDU session modification request message, and then determine the target QoS flow according to the PDU session. For example, the first control plane network element may use part or all of at least one QoS flow corresponding to the PDU session as the target QoS flow.

In some embodiments, the INT configuration information may further indicate at least one of: the frequency of INT processing of the service data packet by the target communication device, and the period of INT processing of the service data packet by the target communication device.

Optionally, the first control plane network element may determine the frequency and/or the period according to a quality of service QoS parameter of a service of the terminal device.

For example, when the delay of the service requiring the terminal device is small or the bandwidth of the service requiring the terminal device is large, the first control plane network element may determine that a part of the service data packets of the target QoS flow needs to be processed, and determine the frequency or the period. In one possible example, the first control plane network element may determine that the target communication device performs INT processing on the traffic data packet at a frequency of performing INT processing on the traffic data packet every 3 traffic data packets. In another possible example, the first control plane network element may determine that the target communication device performs INT processing on the traffic data packet for a period of INT processing every 3 ms.

By the embodiment, the first control plane network element can also control the frequency of INT processing performed by the target communication device, and can reduce the transmission delay of the service data packet, save the transmission bandwidth and reduce the resource consumption of the target communication device caused by high-frequency INT processing while timely and accurately detecting the network state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet.

In some embodiments, when the INT device type of the target communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information may further indicate a processing manner of the target communication device on INT metadata of the service data packet.

Optionally, the target communication device serving as the INT pool node may process INT metadata of the service data packet in any one of the following manners:

the first processing mode: the INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices is normalized to generate metadata (hereinafter referred to as first INT metadata) of the mobile communication system, and then the first INT metadata is reported.

In this processing mode, the target communication device generates first INT metadata based on INT metadata of at least one communication device included in the received service data packet.

The second processing mode is as follows: and reporting INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices without normalization.

After the first control plane network element determines which processing method is used, the INT configuration information may be generated to indicate a processing method of INT metadata of a service data packet by the target communication device.

In one implementation, the first control plane network element may determine which processing mode to use according to the second INT metadata type.

The first control plane network element may instruct the target communication device to process INT metadata of a service data packet by, but not limited to:

mode 1: and the INT configuration information comprises a first indication which is used for indicating the target communication equipment to process according to a first processing mode.

The INT configuration information may include a second indication, where the second indication is used to instruct the target communication device to perform an INT process according to a second processing method.

Mode 2: the INT configuration information can also comprise a first indication field, and when the field takes the value as a first value, a processing mode is indicated; when the field takes the second value, another processing mode is indicated.

Mode 3: the first control plane network element may further indicate a processing manner by whether the INT configuration information includes a second indication field. For example, when the second indication field is included in the INT configuration information, a processing manner is indicated; when the INT configuration information does not include the second indication field, another processing mode is indicated.

In some embodiments, when the INT device type of the target communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information further includes: and a third indication. The third indication may instruct the target communication device to send the normalized first INT metadata to the target receiving device, or to send INT metadata for multiple communication devices to the target receiving device.

Wherein the third indication may comprise at least one of: the device identification of the target receiving device, and the address of the target receiving device.

Alternatively, the target receiving device may be a server or a fourth control plane network element (e.g., AF).

In some embodiments, when the INT device type of the target communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information further includes: and a fourth indication. The fourth indication may instruct the target communication device to remove an INT header and INT metadata of all communication devices of the mobile communication system from the service data packet. Therefore, the target communication equipment can be ensured to continuously realize the service of the terminal equipment according to the service data packet with the normal format.

S302: and the first control plane network element sends the INT configuration information to the target communication equipment. Accordingly, the target communication device receives the INT configuration information from the first control plane network element.

Optionally, the first control plane network element may send the INT configuration information to the target communication device by multiplexing an existing message (for example, a message in a PDU session establishment or a PDU session modification process), or may send the INT configuration information to the target communication device by using a dedicated message.

In S302, the first control plane network element may send the INT configuration information to the target communication device by, but not limited to:

mode 1: the first control plane network element may be an SMF.

When the target communication device is a UPF, the SMF may send INT configuration information for the UPF to the UPF. For example, the SMF may send INT configuration information for the UPF over the N4 interface to the UPF.

When the target communication device is AN AN device, the SMF may transmit INT configuration information of the AN device to the AN device through the AMF. For example, the SMF sends INT configuration information of the AN device to the AMF, and the AMF sends INT configuration information of the AN device to the AN device through the N2 interface.

When the target communication equipment is terminal equipment, the SMF can send INT configuration information of the terminal equipment to the terminal equipment through the AMF. For example, the SMF sends INT configuration information of the terminal device to the AMF, and the AMF sends INT configuration information of the terminal device to the terminal device through the N1 interface.

Mode 2: the first control plane network element may be one of AF, PCF, NEF. The first control plane network element may send the INT configuration information to the target communication device via the SMF.

S303: and after the target communication equipment acquires the first service data packet, performing INT processing on the first service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

Optionally, before the target communication device performs INT processing on the first service data packet, the service data packet supporting the INT processing may be determined. And the first service data packet belongs to a service data packet supporting INT processing.

The target communication device may determine the service data packet supporting INT processing by, but not limited to:

mode 1: the target communication device may determine, according to target QoS flow indication information included in the INT configuration information, a target QoS flow supporting INT processing, and determine that all service data packets in the target QoS flow are service data packets supporting INT processing.

For example, the target communication device may determine a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system according to target QoS flow indication information included in INT configuration information, and perform INT processing on a service data packet in the target QoS flow.

Mode 2: the target communication device may determine, according to the INT configuration information, a target QoS stream that supports INT processing, and determine that a part of service data packets in the target QoS stream are service data packets that support INT processing.

Optionally, the target communication device may determine, according to the frequency and/or the period of performing INT processing on the service data packet indicated by the INT configuration information, that a part of the service data packet in the target QoS stream is a service data packet supporting INT processing.

For example, if the frequency of performing INT processing on the service data packet indicated by the INT configuration information is performing INT processing on every other 3 service data packets, the target communication device selects one service data packet as a service data packet that needs to be subjected to INT processing at every other 3 service data packets in the target QoS stream. And if the period of INT processing on the service data packet indicated by the INT configuration information is 3ms, the target communication equipment selects the service data packet every 3ms as the service data packet needing INT processing.

In the process of executing S303, the target communication device may execute a corresponding INT process according to an INT device type of the target communication device indicated by the INT configuration information, where a specific embodiment is as follows:

the first implementation mode comprises the following steps: the INT configuration information indicates that the INT device type of the target communication device is an INT source node.

In this embodiment, the target communication device acquires INT metadata of the current target communication device, and then adds an INT header and the INT metadata of the target device to the first service data packet.

In the first embodiment, the target communication device may add the INT header to the service packet after generating the INT header according to the first INT header format indicated by the INT configuration information. And generating an INT packet header according to the first INT packet header format. The target communication device may generate INT metadata for the target communication device according to a first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information; the target communication device may then add INT metadata for the target communication device to the service data packet.

For example, when the wrapping protocol of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information is VXLAN, the target communication device may generate the INT header of which the wrapping protocol is VXLAN. When the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information includes: when the target communication device transmits the timestamp of the service data packet and the device identifier of the target communication device, the target communication device may obtain the timestamp of the first service data packet transmitted by the target communication device and the device identifier of the target communication device, so as to obtain INT metadata of the target communication device.

By the method, the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system can realize the function of the INT source node, and the mobile communication system can carry out INT processing on the service data packet under the condition of not needing the assistance of other systems, thereby improving the timeliness and the accuracy of network state measurement in the mobile communication system.

The second embodiment: and the INT configuration information indicates that the INT equipment type of the target communication equipment is an INT transmission node.

In this embodiment, the target communication device acquires INT metadata of the current target communication device, and then adds the INT metadata of the target communication device to the first service data packet.

In this embodiment, after the target communication device receives the first service data packet and recognizes that the first service data packet includes the INT header, the INT metadata of the target communication device may be generated according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information; the target communication device may then add INT metadata of the target communication device to the first traffic data packet.

The third embodiment is as follows: and the INT configuration information indicates that the INT equipment type of the target communication equipment is an INT pool node.

In this embodiment, after receiving the first service data packet, the target communication device may perform INT processing on INT metadata of at least one communication device included in the first service data packet.

Optionally, the target communication device may execute S303 according to any one of default or pre-agreed processing manners; when the INT configuration information further indicates a processing mode of the INT pool node for the service data packet, the target communication device may perform S303 according to the processing mode indicated by the INT configuration information.

Corresponding to the processing manner indicated by the INT configuration information in S301, the target communication device may, but is not limited to, process INT metadata of at least one communication device included in the first service data packet by the following two processing manners.

In one possible design of this embodiment, the target communication device may generate the INT metadata of the target communication device according to the INT metadata of the at least one communication device included in the first service data packet and the INT metadata of the target communication device after generating the INT metadata of the target communication device according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information.

For example, the target communication device is a UPF, the INT device includes the UPF and the terminal device, and the first INT metadata type includes a local forwarding delay of a service data packet transmitted by the target communication device. And after receiving the first service data packet, the UPF generates INT metadata of the UPF according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information, wherein the INT metadata of the UPF comprises the local forwarding delay of the UPF for transmitting the first service data packet. And then, the UPF acquires INT metadata of the terminal equipment contained in the first service data packet, wherein the INT metadata of the terminal equipment comprises local forwarding delay of the terminal equipment for transmitting the first service data packet. And the UPF generates the first INT metadata according to the INT metadata of the UPF and the INT metadata of the terminal equipment. Specifically, the UPF may obtain the system forwarding delay of the mobile communication system in the first INT metadata according to the local forwarding delay of the UPF for transmitting the first service data packet and the local forwarding delay of the terminal device for transmitting the first service data packet.

In another possible design of this manner, the target communication device may add INT metadata of the target communication device to the first service data packet after generating the INT metadata of the target communication device according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information. The target communication device may then generate first INT metadata for the mobile communication system based on the INT metadata for the plurality of communication devices included in the first service data packet.

For example, the destination communication device is a UPF, and after receiving a first service data packet, the UPF may generate INT metadata of the UPF according to the first INT metadata type and add the INT metadata of the UPF to the first service data packet. And after acquiring INT metadata of the terminal equipment and INT metadata of the UPF contained in the first service data packet, the UPF generates the first INT metadata according to the INT metadata of the UPF and the INT metadata of the terminal equipment.

The target communication device may report the first INT metadata after generating the first INT metadata.

In this mode, the target communication device serving as the INT pool node may synthesize INT metadata of the mobile communication system related to the first service data packet into first INT metadata, and report the first INT metadata, so that a device receiving the first INT metadata can conveniently acquire the INT metadata corresponding to the network state experienced by the service data packet, thereby improving the efficiency of network analysis.

In one possible design of this embodiment, the target communication device may generate INT metadata for the target communication device according to a first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information. The target communication device may further obtain INT metadata of the at least one communication device included in the first service data packet, and then report the INT metadata of the target communication device and the INT metadata of the at least one communication device included in the first service data packet.

For example, the target communication device is a UPF, and the UPF generates INT metadata of the UPF according to a first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information after receiving the first service data packet. And the UPF acquires INT metadata of the terminal equipment contained in the first service data packet. Then, reporting by UPF: INT metadata of UPF, INT metadata of terminal device.

In another possible design of this embodiment, the target communication device may add INT metadata of the target communication device to the first service data packet after generating the INT metadata of the target communication device according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information. Then, the target communication device may obtain INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices included in the first service data packet, and report the INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices included in the first service data packet.

For example, the target communication device is a UPF, and after receiving a first service data packet, the UPF may generate INT metadata of the UPF according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information and add the INT metadata of the UPF to the first service data packet. And after acquiring INT metadata of the terminal equipment and INT metadata of the UPF contained in the first service data packet, the UPF reports: INT metadata of the terminal device and INT metadata of the UPF.

In the third embodiment, the target communication device may report the first INT metadata or INT metadata of a plurality of communication devices to a target receiving device configured in advance or defined by a protocol.

And when the INT configuration information further comprises a third indication, the target communication equipment sends first INT metadata or INT metadata of a plurality of communication equipment to the target receiving equipment according to the third indication.

In this way, the control plane network element may configure the target receiving device for INT metadata for the INT pool node. The target communication device may transmit first INT metadata or INT metadata of a plurality of communication devices to the target reception device according to the third indication. In this way, the target receiving device may analyze a network state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet according to the INT metadata of the mobile communication system.

It should be noted that, in the third embodiment, the target communication device may send the first INT metadata or INT metadata of multiple communication devices to the target receiving device by, but not limited to, the following several ways:

mode 1: and under the condition that the target receiving equipment is the server, the target communication equipment can send the first INT metadata or the INT metadata of the plurality of communication equipment to the target receiving equipment through a service data packet in the mobile communication system. In other words, the target communication device may send the first INT metadata or INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices to the target receiving device through the user plane.

Mode 2: and under the condition that the target receiving equipment is a fourth control plane network element or a server in the mobile communication system, the target communication equipment can send the first INT metadata or the INT metadata of the plurality of communication equipment to the target receiving equipment through the control plane.

For example, when the target receiving device is an AF, the target communication device may send first INT metadata or INT metadata of multiple communication devices to the AF through the control plane, or the target communication device may send the first INT metadata or INT metadata of multiple communication devices to the AF through the PCF or NEF.

For another example, when the target receiving device is a server, the target communication device may send the first INT metadata or INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices to the server through one or more of the PCF, NEF, or AF.

Optionally, one of the control plane network elements of the PCF, NEF, or AF may process the received INT metadata according to an INT header format (e.g., VXLAN, geneve, etc.) provided by the AF after receiving the INT metadata that transmits the first INT metadata or INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices. The PCF, NEF or AF then sends the processed INT metadata to the server.

In addition, in the third embodiment, when the INT configuration information further includes a fourth indication, the target communication device may further delete the INT header in the first service data packet and the INT metadata of each communication device according to the fourth indication, and then continue to perform service processing on the first service data packet in the normal format, so as to implement a service of the terminal device. For example, the target communication device may decapsulate the first service data packet, or send the deleted first service data packet to the next user plane communication device or a device connected to the mobile communication system (e.g., a service server in the DN).

In the method, the service data packet sent out by the mobile communication system does not contain INT metadata and INT packet headers of the mobile communication system, thereby reducing resources occupied by the service data packet sent out and avoiding resource waste.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, by which, in a mobile communication system, a control plane network element can send INT (INT) configuration information of target communication equipment to the target communication equipment after acquiring the INT configuration information; in this way, the target communication device can perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information. By the scheme, the control plane network element can carry out INT configuration on the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system can support the INT technology, the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time when transmitting the service data packet and report the detection result, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of applying the communication method shown in fig. 3 to a mobile communication system provided by the present application. The application of the method shown in fig. 3 in the application scenario shown in fig. 4 is described below with reference to fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 4, a control plane network element (i.e., 5G CP in the figure) of a mobile communication system (e.g., 5G communication system) may exchange information (e.g., configuration information, control information, etc.) with a server of a DN through an AF; there is an interface (e.g., N6 interface in fig. 1) between the UPF and the server of the DN of the mobile communication system through which the UPF can interact with the server of the DN with user plane data; the UE accesses UPF through AN equipment.

In one implementation, after receiving the INT information from the server, the AF may send the INT information to the 5G CP, and the 5G CP may determine, according to the INT information, INT configuration information of the user plane communication devices UE, the AN device, and the UPF, and send the INT configuration information of each user plane communication device to the corresponding communication device. In this way, for the downlink transmission direction, after each user plane communication device receives a service data packet from the DN, it may perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

In another implementation, after receiving AN INT request from a UE or AN device serving the UE, the 5G CP may determine INT configuration information of the UE, the AN device, and the UPF in the user plane communication devices, and send the INT configuration information of each user plane communication device to the corresponding communication device. In this way, for the downlink transmission direction, after each user plane communication device receives a service data packet from the DN, it may perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

As can be seen from the example shown in fig. 4, the control plane network element may perform INT configuration on multiple user plane communication devices in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system may support the INT technology, and thus each user plane communication device may perform network state detection in real time and report a detection result when transmitting a service data packet, thereby improving timeliness and accuracy of the network state detection.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method. The method may be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 4, and in the method, the control plane network element may perform INT configuration on a target communication device in the mobile communication system according to INT information from the DN. In the embodiment of the present application, performing INT configuration may also be referred to as determining INT configuration information or configuring INT capability; the target communication device may be at least one of a terminal device, AN device, and a UPF. The communication method will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 5. For convenience of description, the following description takes the terminal device as the UE as an example.

S501: the AF receives INT information from a server (e.g., a measurement server for the DN). The INT information can be used for the mobile communication system where the AF is located to carry out INT processing on the service data packet.

Optionally, the INT information may indicate a mode of an INT packet in the current DN network. For example, the INT information may indicate at least one of: a type of INT metadata (e.g., a second INT metadata type in S301), a format of the INT packet, a type of the INT packet header (e.g., a second INT packet header type in S301), and a target data stream supporting the INT process, which are required to be provided by the mobile communication system.

Wherein the format of the INT packet may include a format of an INT packet header (e.g., a second INT packet header format in S301). The information indicating the data stream supporting the INT process may be the data stream indication information in S301.

The specific content of the INT information may refer to the description of the first embodiment in S301, and is not described herein again.

S502: the AF determines INT configuration information (hereinafter referred to as first INT configuration information) of the target communication device for the target QoS flow.

Wherein the AF may determine the first INT configuration information for a target QoS flow in the mobile communication system according to the INT information acquired at S501.

Optionally, the first INT configuration information may be used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata provided by the target communication device (e.g., the first INT metadata type in S301), and the processing manner of the INT metadata of the service data packet by the INT pool node (e.g., the first processing manner and the second processing manner in S301) are required.

Optionally, the first INT configuration information may further include at least one of: target QoS flow indication information, third indication. Wherein the third indication may instruct a target communication device, which is an INT pool node, to transmit INT metadata of the mobile communication system to a target receiving device.

The generation manner of the first INT configuration information may refer to the description of the first embodiment in S301, and is not described herein again.

S503: and the AF sends the first INT configuration information and the INT information to the PCF. Accordingly, the PCF receives said first INT configuration information and said INT information from the AF.

Optionally, the AF may send the first INT configuration information and the INT information to the PCF through an existing message (e.g., a message in a PDU session setup or a PDU session modification process), or may send the first INT configuration information and the INT information to the PCF through a dedicated message.

S504: the PCF may determine second INT configuration information based on the first INT configuration information and the INT information. And the second INT configuration information is used for the target communication equipment to carry out INT processing on the service data packet.

Optionally, the second INT configuration information may be used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata provided by the target communication device (e.g., the first INT metadata type in S301), and the processing manner of the INT metadata of the service data packet by the INT pool node (e.g., the first processing manner and the second processing manner in S301) are required.

Optionally, the second INT configuration information may further include at least one of: target QoS flow indication information, third indication.

In one implementation, the PCF may determine a portion of the second INT configuration information based on the first INT configuration information; and determining another part of information in the second INT configuration information according to the INT information.

The generation manner of the second INT configuration information may refer to the description of the first embodiment in S301, and is not described herein again.

It should be appreciated that the PCF may determine second INT configuration information for a plurality of target communication devices, e.g., the PCF determines second INT configuration information for a UPF, second INT configuration information for AN device, and second INT configuration information for a UPF.

S505: the PCF sends the second INT configuration information to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the second INT configuration information from the PCF.

Wherein the second INT configuration information sent by the PCF to the SMF may include at least one of: second INT configuration information of the UPF, second INT configuration information of the AN device and second INT configuration information of the UPF.

S506: the SMF sends the second INT configuration information for the UPF to the UPF. Accordingly, the UPF receives the second INT configuration information of the UPF from the SMF.

Optionally, the SMF may send the second INT configuration information as a UPF to the UPF over the N4 interface.

In an implementation manner, the SMF may also determine the target communication device, and the determination manner is the same as S301, which is not described herein again. The SMF may modify the second INT configuration information after determining the target device, and transmit the modified second INT configuration information.

S507: the SMF sends second INT configuration information to the AMF. Accordingly, the AMF receives second INT configuration information from the SMF.

Optionally, the SMF may send the second INT configuration information of the AN device and/or the second INT configuration information of the UE to the AMF, so that the AN device and/or the UE perform INT processing on the service data packet.

S508: the AMF transmits second INT configuration information of the AN device to the AN device. Accordingly, the AN device receives second INT configuration information from the AN device of the AMF.

Optionally, the AMF may send the second INT configuration information to the AN device over the N2 interface.

Wherein, the second INT configuration information sent by the AMF to the AN device may include: second INT configuration information of the AN device and/or second INT configuration information of the UE. If the second INT configuration information sent by the AMF to the AN device includes the second INT configuration information of the UE, the AN device may send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE after receiving the second INT configuration information of the UE.

S509: the AMF transmits second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE. Accordingly, the UE receives the second INT configuration information of the UE from the AMF.

Optionally, the AMF may send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through the N1 interface. The AMF may send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through an existing message (e.g., a message in the PDU session modification procedure), or may send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through a dedicated message.

Wherein S506, S507, S508 and S509 are optional. If the communication device is not the target communication device that requires INT processing of the traffic data packet, the mobile communication system may not configure the second INT configuration information for the communication device and not transmit the second INT configuration information to the communication device.

For example, S506 may not be performed when the target communication device does not include a UPF. When the target communication device includes the UPF but does not include the AN device and the UE, in other words, when the UPF requires the INT processing for the service data packet and the AN device and the UE do not require the INT processing for the service data packet, S507, S508, and S509 may not be performed. For another example, when the target communication device includes the UPF and the AN device but does not include the UE, S509 may not be performed. As another example, S508 may not be performed when the target communication device includes the UPF and the UE, but does not include the AN device. S509 may not be performed when the second INT configuration information of the UE is forwarded to the UE through the AN apparatus.

S510: and the target communication equipment carries out INT processing on the service data packet according to the second INT configuration information of the target communication equipment.

The following takes the downlink transmission direction as an example, and with reference to fig. 6, the implementation process of S510 is illustrated. In the method, the target communication device comprises: UPF, AN equipment and UE.

S601: the UPF receives a first service data packet from the server.

Wherein the first traffic data packet may comprise an INT packet header. The INT header may be added by the server to the first service data packet.

S602: and the UPF carries out INT processing on the first service data packet.

The UPF may perform INT processing on the received first service data packet according to the second INT configuration information acquired in S506.

For example, the UPF may determine that the INT device type of the UPF is an INT transmission node according to the INT device type in the second INT configuration information acquired in S506. After determining that the first service data packet supports INT processing, the UPF may generate INT metadata of the UPF according to the second INT configuration information acquired in S506, and add the INT metadata to the first service data packet.

The UPF may determine that the first service data packet supports INT processing, with reference to the manner of determining the service data packet supporting INT processing in S303; and processing the first service data packet by referring to the processing mode of the INT transmission node on the first service data packet in S303.

S603: the UPF sends a first service data packet to the AN equipment, wherein the first service data packet comprises: INT header and INT metadata of UPF. Accordingly, the AN device receives the first service data packet from the UPF.

S604: and the AN equipment carries out INT processing on the first service data packet.

Optionally, the AN device may perform INT processing on the received first service data packet according to the second INT configuration information of the AN device acquired in S508.

For example, the AN device may determine that the INT device type of the AN device is AN INT transmission node according to the INT device type in the second INT configuration information acquired in S508. After determining that the first service data packet supports INT processing, the AN device may generate INT metadata of the AN device according to the second INT configuration information acquired in S508, and add the INT metadata to the first service data packet.

The AN device may determine that the first service data packet supports INT processing, referring to the manner of determining the service data packet supporting INT processing in S303; and processing the first service data packet by referring to the processing mode of the INT transmission node on the first service data packet in S303.

S605: AN AN device sends a first service data packet to a UE, wherein the first service data packet comprises: INT header, INT metadata of UPF, and INT metadata of AN device. Accordingly, the UE receives the first traffic packet from the AN device.

S606: after generating the INT metadata of the UE, the UE may perform INT processing on the first service data packet according to a processing manner of the INT metadata of the service data packet by the UE indicated by the second INT configuration information.

Optionally, the UE may determine that the INT device type of the UE is an INT pool node according to the INT device type in the second INT configuration information acquired in S509. The UE may determine a first service data packet supporting INT processing, and after generating INT metadata for the UE according to the first INT metadata type indicated by the second INT configuration information, the UE may perform INT processing on the first service data packet according to a processing mode of the INT metadata for the service data packet by the UE indicated by the second INT configuration information.

The target communication device as the INT pool node may process INT metadata of the service data packet in any one of the following manners:

In this processing method, in S606, the UE may generate first INT metadata based on INT metadata of at least one communication device included in the received service data packet. In other words, the UE may obtain the INT metadata of the entire mobile communication system according to the INT metadata of the internal network element of the mobile communication system. For example, the UE may generate first INT metadata from INT metadata of the UPF, INT metadata of the AN device, and INT metadata of the UE.

In this processing method, in S606, the UE may acquire INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices of the first service packet.

For example, the UE acquires INT metadata of the UPF, INT metadata of the AN device, and INT metadata of the UE.

The UE may determine, in S303, that the first service data packet supports INT processing, and determine that the first service data packet supports INT processing, where a specific processing manner of the UE on the first service data packet may refer to a processing manner of an INT pool node in S303, and details are not described here.

S607: the UE transmits the first INT metadata or INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices to a target receiving device. Accordingly, the target receiving device receives the first INT metadata from the UE or INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices.

In one implementation, when the INT configuration information indicates the first processing mode, the UE may send the first INT metadata to a target receiving device according to a third indication in the second INT configuration information. Therefore, the target receiving device can acquire the INT metadata of the whole mobile communication system corresponding to the first service data packet, and does not need to distinguish which INT metadata are the INT metadata corresponding to the first service data packet, so that the efficiency of analyzing the network state by the target receiving device can be improved.

In another implementation, when the INT configuration information indicates the second processing manner, the UE may send INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices to the target receiving device according to the third indication. For example, the UE sends INT metadata of the UPF, INT metadata of the AN device, and INT metadata of the UE to the target receiving device according to the third indication.

The specific sending method in S607 can refer to S303, and is not described herein again.

It can be understood that if some of the UPF, the AN device and the UE are not target communication devices that need to perform the INT processing, the communication devices may not perform the INT processing step, and the first service packet does not include INT metadata of the communication devices.

For example, when the AN device is not a target communication device that needs to perform the INT process, the INT metadata of the AN device may not be included in steps S604, S605, and thereafter.

It will be appreciated that a similar approach may be used for the uplink transmission direction. For example, for the uplink transmission direction, the INT pool node may be a UPF, and the operation of the UPF is the same as that of the UE in S606-S607, and is not described herein again.

The embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 5 can be applied to a PDU session modification procedure. The following describes the steps of applying messages in the PDU session modification procedure.

In S505, the PCF may send the second INT configuration information to the SMF by at least one of: a PCF initiated Session Management (SM) policy association modification procedure (PCF initiated SM policy association modification procedure), and an SMF initiated SM policy association modification procedure (SMF initiated SM policy association modification procedure).

In S506, the SMF may send the second INT configuration information of the UPF to the UPF through an N4 session establishment/modification request (N4 session establishment/modification request).

In S507, the SMF may send the second INT configuration information to the AMF through an N1N2 message forwarding (Namf _ communication _ N1N2 message transfer) message, where the N1N2 message forwarding message includes an N1 message and an N2 message. The N1 message is a session establishment acceptance (PDU) message. Wherein the N2 message includes CN tunnel information (CN tunnel information) allocated by the SMF and/or the UPF to the UE.

In S508, the AMF may send the second INT configuration information to the AN device via AN N2 message (N2 message). And when the INT configuration information sent by the AMF to the AN equipment comprises second INT configuration information of the UE, the AN equipment can send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through AN air interface resource configuration process.

In S509, the AMF may send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through a session establishment response (PDU session acknowledgement response).

In the embodiment of the present application, a plurality of control plane network elements jointly determine the INT configuration information of the target communication device, so that the computational resources of each control plane network element can be saved, and the resources of the network elements in the mobile communication system can be effectively utilized.

It is to be understood that the INT configuration information may also be determined by a control plane network element for the target communication device. The INT configuration information is determined, for example, by the PCF for the target communication device. In this case, the steps of S502, S503 and thereafter may not be performed without including the first INT configuration information. In S504, the PCF may determine the second INT configuration information based on the INT information, and the determination method may refer to S301.

In the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 5, the PCF may also be replaced with NEF. The NEF may send the second INT configuration information to the SMF via an interface between the NEF and the SMF, or may send the second INT configuration information to the SMF via the PCF.

In this embodiment of the present application, after acquiring INT configuration information of a target communication device, a control plane network element (e.g., AF and PCF, or NEF) may send the INT configuration information to the target communication device; in this way, the target communication device can perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information. By the method, the control plane network element can carry out INT configuration on the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system can support the INT technology, the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time when transmitting the service data packet and report the detection result, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

In addition, in the embodiment of the application, the target communication device sends accurate measurement information to the target receiving device in time, so that the target receiving device can optimize data topology and estimation of a corresponding application to a network, thereby rapidly discovering the change of a network state and improving the stability of a mobile communication system.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication method. The method may be applicable to the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 4, and in the method, the control plane network element may determine the INT configuration information for the target communication device in the mobile communication system according to the service requirement. In this embodiment, the target communication device may be at least one of a terminal device, AN device, and a UPF. The communication method will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 7. For convenience of description, the following description takes the terminal device as the UE as an example.

S701: and the UE sends a first message to the AMF, wherein the first message is used for requesting INT processing on a service data packet of the UE. Accordingly, the AMF receives a first message from the UE.

Wherein the first message may be an INT request in S301.

In one implementation, an INT-related identifier (e.g., INT identifier) may be carried in the first message, and the INT-related identifier may be used to request INT processing for a service packet of the UE.

In addition, the first message may also carry indication information of an object requesting to perform INT. The object requesting INT may include at least one of: traffic packets, qoS flows, and sessions. The indication information of the object requesting the INT may include at least one of: an identification of the service data packet, a QoS flow identification, and a session identification.

The specific content of the first message may refer to the INT request in S301, which is not described herein again.

S702: the AMF may select an SMF for the UE to serve the UE according to the first message.

S703: the AMF may send a second message to the selected SMF. The second message may be used to request INT processing for a traffic data packet of the UE. Accordingly, the SMF receives the second message from the AMF.

The second message may include information included in the first message in S701.

S704: and the SMF determines that INT configuration is required according to the second message.

In some implementations, the SMF may determine that INT configuration is required based on an identification associated with INT contained in the second message.

In other implementations, when the second message is a dedicated message for an INT request, the SMF receives the second message, i.e., may determine that INT configuration is required.

Optionally, the SMF may generate INT information, and the content and the generation manner of the INT information may refer to the first implementation manner of the first implementation manner in S301.

S705: and the SMF sends a third message to the PCF, wherein the third message can be used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the UE. Accordingly, the PCF receives a third message from the SMF.

The third message may contain information contained in the first message in S701.

When SMF generates INT information, the third message may also include the INT information.

S706: the PCF generates INT configuration information for the target communication device.

Wherein the INT configuration information is usable to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of the INT header, the type of the INT header, and the type of the INT device required by the target communication device.

Optionally, the INT configuration information may further include at least one of: target QoS flow indication information, frequency of INT processing of the service data packet by the target communication device, and period of INT processing of the service data packet by the target communication device.

In one implementation, when the third message includes INT information, the PCF may generate the INT configuration information based on the INT information. The method for generating the INT configuration information may refer to the description of the first implementation manner in the first implementation manner of S301.

In another implementation, when the third message does not include the INT information, the PCF may generate the INT configuration information based on the third message. For example, the third message may include the information included in the first message in S701, and thus, the third message also corresponds to the INT request in S301. The PCF may generate the INT configuration information according to the INT request corresponding to the third message. The generating method of the INT configuration information may refer to the description of the second embodiment of S301.

S707: the PCF sends INT configuration information to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives INT configuration information from the PCF.

In one implementation, the SMF may determine, for a target communication device serving as an INT pool node, indication information for instructing the target communication device to delete an INT header and INT metadata of each communication device from a service data packet after acquiring INT metadata of at least one communication device of the mobile communication system from the service data packet.

S708: the SMF sends the INT configuration information of the UPF to the UPF. Accordingly, the UPF receives the INT configuration information of the UPF from the SMF.

S709: the SMF sends INT configuration information of the AN equipment and/or INT configuration information of the UE to the AMF. Accordingly, the AMF receives INT configuration information of the AN device and/or INT configuration information of the UE from the SMF.

S710: the AMF transmits INT configuration information of the AN device to the AN device. Accordingly, the AN device receives INT configuration information of the AN device from the AMF.

S711: the AMF transmits INT configuration information of the UE to the UE. Accordingly, the UE receives the INT configuration information of the UE from the AMF.

Specific implementation manners of S708-S711 can refer to S506-S509, and are not described herein again.

In one implementation, S704 may be an optional step. In this case, the SMF may forward the second message to the PCF after receiving the second message (i.e., the second message and the third message are the same), or send a third message containing the second message to the PCF.

S712: and the target communication equipment carries out INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

S712 will be described below by taking the uplink transmission direction as an example, with reference to fig. 8. In this example, the target communication device includes: UE, AN equipment and UPF.

S801: and the UE carries out INT processing on the first service data packet.

The UE may perform INT processing on the first service data packet according to the INT configuration information acquired in S711.

For example, the UE may determine that the INT device type of the UE is an INT source node according to the INT device type in the INT configuration information acquired in S711. The UE may generate an INT header and INT metadata of the UE after determining that the first service packet supports the INT process, and add the INT header and the INT metadata to the first service packet.

The UE may determine that the first service data packet supports INT processing with reference to the manner of determining that the first service data packet supports INT processing in S303; and processing the first service data packet by referring to the processing mode of the INT source node on the service data packet in S303.

S802: and the UE sends a first service data packet to the AN equipment, wherein the first service data packet comprises AN INT packet header and INT metadata of the UE. Accordingly, the AN device receives a first service data packet from the UE.

S803: and the AN equipment carries out INT processing on the first service data packet.

The AN device may perform INT processing on the received first service data packet according to the INT configuration information obtained in S710.

For example, the AN device may determine that the INT device type of the AN device is AN INT transmission node according to the INT device type in the INT configuration information acquired in S710. The AN device may generate INT metadata of the AN device and add the INT metadata to the first service packet after determining that the first service packet supports the INT process.

The AN device may determine that the first service data packet supports the INT processing with reference to the manner of determining that the first service data packet supports the INT processing in S303; and processing the first service data packet by referring to the processing mode of the INT transmission node on the service data packet in S303.

S804: the AN equipment sends a first service data packet to the UPF, wherein the first service data packet comprises: INT header, INT metadata of UE, and INT metadata of AN device. Accordingly, the UPF receives a first traffic packet from the AN device.

S805: and after generating INT metadata of the UPF, the UPF can perform INT processing on the first service data packet according to the processing mode of the INT metadata of the service data packet by the UPF indicated by the INT configuration information.

Optionally, the UPF may determine that the INT device type of the UPF is an INT pool node according to the INT device type in the INT configuration information acquired in S708. The UPF can determine a first service data packet supporting INT processing, and after generating INT metadata of the UPF according to a first INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information, the UPF can perform INT processing on the first service data packet according to a processing mode of the INT metadata of the first service data packet by the UPF indicated by the INT configuration information.

the first processing mode comprises the following steps: the INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices is normalized to generate metadata (hereinafter referred to as first INT metadata) of the mobile communication system, and then the first INT metadata is reported.

In this processing method, in S805, the UPF may generate first INT metadata based on INT metadata of at least one communication device included in the received service data packet. For example, the UPF may generate the first INT metadata from INT metadata of the UE, INT metadata of the AN device, and INT metadata of the UPF.

In this processing method, in S805, the UE may acquire the plurality of communication device INT metadata of the first service packet. For example, the UPF acquires INT metadata of the UE, INT metadata of the AN device, and INT metadata of the UPF.

The UPF may determine, with reference to the manner in which the first service data packet supporting INT processing is determined in S303, that the first service data packet supports INT processing, and a specific processing manner of the UPF on the first service data packet may refer to a processing manner of an INT pool node in S303, which is not described herein again.

S806: the UPF transmits the first INT metadata or INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices to a target receiving device. Accordingly, the target receiving device receives said first INT metadata from the UPF or INT metadata of said plurality of communication devices.

In one implementation, when the INT configuration information indicates the first processing mode, the UPF may send the first INT metadata to a target receiving device according to a third indication in the INT configuration information. Therefore, the target receiving device can acquire the INT metadata of the whole mobile communication system corresponding to the first service data packet, and does not need to distinguish which INT metadata are the INT metadata corresponding to the first service data packet, so that the efficiency of analyzing the network state by the target receiving device can be improved.

In another implementation, when the INT configuration information indicates the second processing mode, the UPF may send, according to the third indication, INT metadata of at least one target communication device included in the first service data packet to the target receiving device. For example, the UPF sends INT metadata of the UPF, INT metadata of the AN device, and INT metadata of the UE to the target receiving device according to the third indication.

For the specific sending method in S806, reference may be made to S303, which is not described herein again.

S807: the UPF deletes the INT header and INT metadata for each communication device from the first service data packet.

Optionally, the UPF may further delete the INT header and INT metadata of each communication device of the mobile communication system from the first service data packet according to indication information in the INT configuration information. In this way, the UPF can obtain the first service data packet before the INT process. For example, the UPF may delete the following INT data from the first service data packet: INT header, INT metadata of UE, INT metadata of AN device, and INT metadata of UPF.

S808: the UPF sends the first service data packet processed in S807.

Alternatively, the UPF may transmit the first service data packet processed in S807 to a system (e.g., a server of the DN) other than the mobile communication system.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first service data packet sent out by the mobile communication system does not include INT metadata and an INT header of the mobile communication system, so that resources occupied by sending out the first service data packet can be reduced, resource waste is avoided, and it is ensured that the target communication device can continue to implement a service of the terminal device according to the service data packet in the normal format.

It is to be understood that S807 and S808 are optional steps. For example, when the resources are sufficient, S807 and S808 may not be performed.

In addition, the execution sequence of S806 and S807 and S808 is not limited, and S806 may be executed first, and then S807 and S808 may be executed; or may execute S807 first, and then execute S806 and S808; s806 and S808 may be performed simultaneously, or S806 and S808 may not be performed simultaneously.

The method takes the uplink transmission direction as an example. It should be understood that a similar approach may be used for the downlink transmission direction. For example, for the downlink transmission direction, the INT pool node may be a UE, and the operation of the UE is the same as the operation of the UPF in the method, which is not described herein again.

The embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 7 can be applied to a PDU session establishment procedure. The following describes the procedure of applying the message in the PDU session setup procedure.

In S701, the first message sent by the UE to the AMF may be a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request).

In S703, the second message sent by the AMF to the SMF may be an establish session management context request (Nsmf _ PDU session _ create SM context request).

In S705 and S707, the SMF may send the third message by initiating an SM policy association establishment/modification (SM policy association or SM policy association modification) procedure to the PCF, and acquire the INT configuration information from the PCF.

In S708, the SMF may send the INT configuration information of the UPF to the UPF through the N4 session establishment/modification request.

In S709, the SMF may forward the message via the N1N2 message and send the INT configuration information to the AMF.

In S710, the AMF may send INT configuration information to the AN device through AN N2 session request (N2 PDU session request). When the INT configuration information sent by the AMF to the AN device includes INT configuration information of the UE, the AN device may send the INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through AN air interface resource configuration procedure.

In S711, the AMF may send the second INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through the session establishment response.

The embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 7 can be applied to a PDU session modification procedure. The following describes the steps of applying messages in the PDU session modification procedure.

In S701, the first message sent by the UE to the AMF may be a PDU session modification request (PDU session modification request).

In S703, the second message sent by the AMF to the SMF may be an update session management context request (Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context request).

In S705 and S707, the SMF may send the third message by initiating an SM policy association establishment/modification procedure to the PCF, and acquire INT configuration information from the PCF.

In S710, the AMF may send INT configuration information to the AN device via AN N2 message (N2 message). When the INT configuration information sent by the AMF to the AN device includes INT configuration information of the UE, the AN device may send the INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through AN air interface resource configuration procedure.

In S711, the AMF may send INT configuration information of the UE to the UE through the session establishment response.

In the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 7, the PCF may be replaced with a NEF. The NEF may send INT configuration information to the SMF via an interface between the NEF and the SMF, or may send INT configuration information to the SMF via the PCF.

By the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, in the mobile communication system, after determining the INT configuration information of the target communication equipment according to the INT request sent by the UE, the PCF can send the INT configuration information to the target communication equipment; in this way, the target communication device can perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information. By the method, the control plane network element can carry out INT configuration on the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system can support the INT technology, the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time when transmitting the service data packet and report the detection result, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

Based on the same technical concept, the present application also provides a communication apparatus, the structure of which is shown in fig. 9, and the communication apparatus includes a communication unit 901 and a processing unit 902. The communication apparatus 900 may be applied to a control plane network element, a UPF, AN apparatus, or a terminal apparatus in the communication system shown in fig. 1, and may implement the communication method provided in the embodiments and examples of the present application. The functions of the various units in the device 900 are described below.

The communication unit 901 is configured to receive and transmit data.

When the communication apparatus 900 is applied to a control plane network element, a UPF, or AN device (in a scenario where the AN device interacts with a network element in a core network), the communication unit 901 may be implemented by a physical interface, a communication module, a communication interface, and AN input/output interface. The communication apparatus 900 may be connected to a network cable or a cable through the communication unit, so as to establish a physical connection with other devices.

When the communication apparatus 900 is applied to a terminal device or AN device (in a scenario where the AN device interacts with the terminal device), the communication unit 901 may be implemented by a transceiver, for example, a mobile communication module.

The mobile communication module can provide a solution including 2G/3G/4G/5G wireless communication applied on the terminal equipment. The mobile communication module may include at least one antenna, at least one filter, a switch, a power amplifier, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), and the like. The terminal equipment can be accessed to AN equipment in the AN through the mobile communication module and interacts with the AN equipment; the AN equipment can also communicate with the accessed terminal equipment through the mobile communication module.

In one embodiment, the communication apparatus 900 is applied to the control plane network element in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, fig. 5 or fig. 7 (e.g., the first control plane network element in fig. 3, the AF and PCF in fig. 5, and the PCF in fig. 7). Wherein the target communication device comprises at least one of: terminal equipment, AN equipment and UPF. The specific functions of the processing unit 902 in this embodiment will be described below.

The processing unit 902 is configured to obtain in-band network measurement INT configuration information of a target communication device in the mobile communication system; the INT configuration information is used for the target communication equipment to carry out INT processing on a service data packet; the INT configuration information is transmitted to the target communication device through the communication unit 901.

Optionally, the INT configuration information is used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of an INT packet header and the type of INT equipment of the target communication equipment are required to be provided by the target communication equipment;

wherein the INT device type of the target communication device is any one of: INT source node, INT transmission node, INT pool node.

Optionally, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to:

acquiring INT information, and generating INT configuration information according to the INT information; the INT information is used for the mobile communication system to carry out INT processing on a service data packet; or

Receiving, by the communication unit 901, the INT configuration information from a second control plane network element; or

After receiving an INT request from a terminal device or an access network device accessed by the terminal device through the communication unit 901, generating the INT configuration information according to at least one of the following items: the characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource allocation state of the mobile communication system and the measurement requirements; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to:

receiving, by the communication unit 901, INT information from a server or a third control plane network element; or

After receiving an INT request from a terminal device or an access network device accessed by the terminal device through the communication unit 901, generating the INT information according to at least one of the following: characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, qoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, resource allocation state of the mobile communication system and measurement requirements; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the INT information is used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of the INT header, which is provided by the mobile communication system, is required.

Optionally, the INT information further includes: data stream indication information for indicating a target data stream supporting an INT process; the INT configuration information further includes: target QoS flow indication information for indicating a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system; wherein a target QoS flow corresponds to the target data flow.

Optionally, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information further includes: a first indication; the first indication is used for indicating the target communication equipment to generate first INT metadata according to INT metadata of at least one communication equipment contained in the received service data packet; wherein the first INT metadata is INT metadata of the mobile communication system.

Optionally, the INT configuration information further includes: and a second indication, configured to instruct the target communication device to send the first INT metadata to a target receiving device, where the first INT metadata is used for the target receiving device to analyze a network state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet.

Optionally, the target receiving device is a server or a fourth control plane network element.

Optionally, when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT source node, the INT configuration information is specifically used to indicate the target communication device to add an INT header and INT metadata of the target communication device to the service data packet, where a format of the INT header conforms to a format of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information.

Optionally, when the INT configuration information indicates that the INT device type of the target communication device is an INT transmission node, the INT configuration information is specifically used to indicate that the target communication device adds INT metadata of the target communication device to the service data packet.

In one embodiment, the communication apparatus 900 is applied to a target communication device (hereinafter referred to as a first communication device) in the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 3, fig. 5 or fig. 7, and the target communication device may include at least one of the following: terminal equipment, AN equipment and UPF. The specific functions of the processing unit 902 in this embodiment will be described below.

The processing unit 902 is configured to receive, through the communication unit 901, in-band network measurement INT configuration information from a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system; the INT configuration information is used for the first communication equipment to carry out INT processing on a service data packet; and after a first service data packet is obtained, INT processing is carried out on the first service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

Optionally, the INT configuration information is used to indicate at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of an INT packet header and the type of an INT device of the first communication device are required to be provided by the first communication device;

wherein the INT device type of the first communication device is any one of: INT source node, INT transmission node, INT pool node.

Optionally, when the first communication device is a terminal device or an access network device to which the terminal device is accessed, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to: before receiving INT configuration information from a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system, sending an INT request to the first control plane network element through the communication unit 901; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on a first service data packet of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the INT configuration information further includes: target QoS flow indication information for indicating a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system; wherein the first service data packet belongs to the target QoS flow.

Optionally, the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT pool node, and the INT configuration information further includes: a first indication; in this case, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to:

generating INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information; generating first INT metadata of the mobile communication system according to the first indication, INT metadata of at least one communication device contained in the first service data packet and INT metadata of the first communication device; or

Generating INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information; adding INT metadata of the first communication device to the first service data packet; and generating first INT metadata of the mobile communication system according to the first indication and the INT metadata of the plurality of communication devices contained in the first service data packet.

Optionally, when the INT configuration information further includes: in case of the second indication, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to: according to the second indication, the communication unit 901 sends the first INT metadata to the target receiving device, where the first INT metadata is used for the target receiving device to analyze a network state when the mobile communication system transmits the first service data packet.

Optionally, when the INT configuration information indicates that the INT device type of the first communication device is an INT source node, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to: adding an INT (Integrated Circuit) header to the first service data packet, wherein the format of the INT header conforms to the format of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information; generating INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of the INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information; adding INT metadata of the first communication device to the first service data packet.

Optionally, the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to, when the INT configuration information indicates that the INT device type of the first communication device is an INT transmission node, generate INT metadata of the first communication device according to the INT metadata type indicated by the INT configuration information; adding INT metadata of the first communication device to the first service data packet.

It should be noted that, in the above embodiments of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated in one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may also be implemented in the form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

Based on the same technical concept, the present application further provides a communication device, where the communication device may be applied to a control plane network element, a UPF, AN apparatus, or a terminal apparatus in the communication system shown in fig. 1, and may implement the communication method provided in the embodiments and examples of the present application, and has the function of the communication apparatus shown in fig. 9. Referring to fig. 10, the communication apparatus 1000 includes: a communications module 1001, a processor 1002, and a memory 1003. The communication module 1001, the processor 1002, and the memory 1003 are connected to each other.

Optionally, the communication module 1001, the processor 1002, and the memory 1003 are connected to each other through a bus 1004. The bus 1004 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 10, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

The communication module 1001 is configured to receive and send data, and implement communication interaction with other devices. For example, when the communication device 1000 is applied to a control plane network element, a UPF, or AN device (in a scenario that the AN device interacts with a network element in a core network), the communication module 1001 may be implemented by a physical interface, a communication module, a communication interface, and AN input/output interface. For another example, when the communication device 1000 is applied to a terminal device or AN device (in a scenario where the AN device interacts with the terminal device), the communication module 1001 may also be implemented by a transceiver.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 is applied to the control plane network element in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, fig. 5 or fig. 7 (e.g., the first control plane network element in fig. 3, the AF and PCF in fig. 5, and the PCF in fig. 7). Wherein the target communication device comprises at least one of: terminal equipment, AN equipment and UPF. The processor 1002 is specifically configured to:

acquiring in-band network measurement INT configuration information of target communication equipment in the mobile communication system; the INT configuration information is used for the target communication equipment to carry out INT processing on a service data packet; the INT configuration information is sent to the target communication device by the communication module 1001.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 is applied to a target communication device (hereinafter referred to as a first communication device) in the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 3, fig. 5 or fig. 7, and the target communication device may include at least one of the following: terminal equipment, AN equipment and UPF. The processor 1002 is specifically configured to:

receiving in-band network measurement (INT) configuration information from a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system through the communication module 1001; the INT configuration information is used for the first communication equipment to carry out INT processing on a service data packet; and after a first service data packet is obtained, INT processing is carried out on the first service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

For the specific functions of the processor 1002, reference may be made to the descriptions in the communication method provided in the embodiments and examples of the present application and the specific functional description of the communication device 900 in the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 9, which are not described herein again.

The memory 1003 is used for storing program instructions, data, and the like. In particular, the program instructions may include program code comprising computer operational instructions. The memory 1003 may include Random Access Memory (RAM) and may further include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one disk memory. The processor 1002 executes the program instructions stored in the memory 1003, and uses the data stored in the memory 1003 to implement the above functions, thereby implementing the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

It will be appreciated that the memory 1003 in FIG. 10 of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced Synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link SDRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Based on the above embodiments, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program, which, when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute the communication method provided by the above embodiments.

Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer program causes the computer to execute the communication method provided by the above embodiments.

A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a chip, where the chip is used to read a computer program stored in a memory, and implement the communication method provided by the above embodiments.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, and is used to support a computer device to implement functions related to service equipment, forwarding equipment, or site equipment in the foregoing embodiments. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing programs and data necessary for the computer device. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

To sum up, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, apparatus, and device, in the method, in a mobile communication system, after obtaining INT configuration information of a target communication device, a control plane network element may send the INT configuration information to the target communication device; in this way, the target communication device can perform INT processing on the service data packet according to the INT configuration information. By the scheme, the control plane network element can carry out INT configuration on the target communication equipment in the mobile communication system, so that the mobile communication system can support the INT technology, the target communication equipment can carry out network state detection in real time when transmitting the service data packet and report the detection result, and the timeliness and the accuracy of the network state detection can be improved.

In various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or conflicting, terms and/or descriptions between different embodiments have consistency and may be mutually referenced, and technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form a new embodiment according to their inherent logical relationships.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a first control plane network element in a mobile communication system, comprising:

acquiring in-band network measurement INT configuration information of target communication equipment in the mobile communication system; wherein the target communication device comprises at least one of: terminal equipment, access network equipment and a user plane network element; the INT configuration information is used for the target communication equipment to carry out INT processing on the service data packet;

transmitting the INT configuration information to the target communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the INT configuration information is for indicating at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of an INT packet header and the type of INT equipment of the target communication equipment are required to be provided by the target communication equipment;

wherein the INT device type of the target communication device is any one of: INT source node, INT transmission node and INT pool node.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein obtaining INT configuration information of a target communication device in the mobile communication system comprises:

Receiving the INT configuration information from a second control plane network element; or alternatively

After receiving an INT request from a terminal device or an access network device accessed by the terminal device, generating INT configuration information according to at least one of the following items: the characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource allocation state of the mobile communication system and the measurement requirements; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein acquiring INT information comprises:

receiving INT information from a server or a third control plane network element; or

After an INT request from a terminal device or an access network device accessed by the terminal device is received, the INT information is generated according to at least one of the following items: the characteristics of the service of the terminal equipment, the QoS parameters of the service of the terminal equipment, the resource configuration state of the mobile communication system and the measurement requirements; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on the service data packet of the terminal equipment.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4,

the INT information is used for indicating at least one of: the type of INT metadata, format of INT header, which the mobile communication system provides, is required.

6. The method according to any of claims 3-5, wherein the INT information further comprises: data stream indication information for indicating a target data stream supporting an INT process;

the INT configuration information further includes: target QoS flow indication information for indicating a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system;

wherein the target QoS flow corresponds to the target data flow.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information further comprises: a first indication; the first indication is used for indicating the target communication equipment to generate first INT metadata according to INT metadata of at least one communication equipment contained in the received service data packet; wherein the first INT metadata is INT metadata of the mobile communication system.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the INT configuration information further comprises: and a second indication, configured to instruct the target communication device to send the first INT metadata to a target receiving device, where the first INT metadata is used for the target receiving device to analyze a network state when the mobile communication system transmits the service data packet.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the target receiving device is a server or a fourth control plane network element.

10. The method according to claim 2, wherein when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT source node, the INT configuration information is specifically configured to instruct the target communication device to add an INT header and INT metadata of the target communication device to the service data packet, wherein a format of the INT header conforms to a format of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the target communication device is an INT transmission node, the INT configuration information is specifically configured to instruct the target communication device to add INT metadata of the target communication device to the service data packet.

12. A communication method applied to a first communication device in a mobile communication system, comprising:

receiving in-band network measurement (INT) configuration information from a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system; wherein the first communication device comprises at least one of: terminal equipment, access network equipment and a user plane network element; the INT configuration information is used for the first communication equipment to carry out INT processing on a service data packet;

and after the first service data packet is acquired, INT processing is carried out on the first service data packet according to the INT configuration information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the INT configuration information is for indicating at least one of: the type of INT metadata, the format of an INT packet header and the type of an INT device of the first communication device are required to be provided by the first communication device;

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein when the first communication device is a terminal device or an access network device to which the terminal device accesses, before receiving INT configuration information from a first control plane network element in the mobile communication system, the method further comprises:

sending an INT request to the first control plane network element; and the INT request is used for requesting INT processing on a first service data packet of the terminal equipment.

15. The method according to any of claims 12-14, wherein the INT configuration information further comprises: target QoS flow indication information for indicating a target QoS flow supporting INT processing in the mobile communication system;

wherein the first service data packet belongs to the target QoS flow.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein when the INT configuration information indicates an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT pool node, the INT configuration information further comprises: a first indication;

the performing INT processing on the first service data packet includes:

generating INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information; generating first INT metadata of the mobile communication system according to the first indication, INT metadata of at least one communication device contained in the first service data packet and INT metadata of the first communication device; or;

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the INT configuration information further comprises: a second indication; the method further comprises the following steps:

and sending the first INT metadata to the target receiving equipment according to the second indication, wherein the first INT metadata is used for analyzing the network state of the mobile communication system when the target receiving equipment transmits the first service data packet.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the target receiving device is a server or a fourth control plane network element.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT source node, the INT processing the first traffic packet comprises:

adding an INT (integrated circuit) header to the first service data packet, wherein the format of the INT header conforms to the format of the INT header indicated by the INT configuration information;

generating INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of the INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information;

adding INT metadata of the first communication device to the first service data packet.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein when the INT configuration information indicates that an INT device type of the first communication device is an INT transmission node, the performing INT processing on the first service data packet comprises:

generating INT metadata of the first communication device according to the type of INT metadata indicated by the INT configuration information;

21. A communication apparatus applied to a first control plane network element, comprising:

a communication unit for receiving and transmitting data;

a processing unit for performing the method of any one of claims 1-11 by means of the communication unit.

22. A communication apparatus applied to a first communication device, comprising:

a communication unit for receiving and transmitting data;

a processing unit for performing the method of any one of claims 12-20 by means of the communication unit.

23. A communication system, comprising:

a first control plane network element for implementing the method of any of claims 1-11;

a first communication device for implementing the method of any one of claims 12-20.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-20.

25. A chip, wherein the chip is coupled to a memory, wherein the chip reads a computer program stored in the memory and executes the method of any one of claims 1-20.